1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing reels and, more particularly, to a fishing reel having a bail assembly that is selectively movable from a retrieve position into a cast position through the operation of a trigger.
2. Background Art
One well known fishing reel construction utilizes a rotor with a bail assembly thereon. The bail assembly is repositionable between a cast position and a retrieve position. In the retrieve position for the bail assembly, rotation of the rotor causes the bail assembly to wrap line around a line carrying spool. By repositioning the bail assembly from the retrieve position into the cast position, line can pay freely off of the spool.
Several variations of this type of reel exist which permit repositioning of the bail assembly in different manners. In the simplest form for this system, the user is required to manually grasp, and effect pivoting of, the bail assembly to move the bail assembly from the retrieve position into the cast position.
To avoid having to directly engage the bail assembly, triggers have been incorporated into certain of these reels. In one form, the trigger is mounted on the rotor to follow movement thereof. With this type of trigger, the rotor is repositioned strategically to situate the trigger directly under the rod to allow the user to, with one hand, grasp the fishing rod and reposition the trigger. As the trigger is moved from its normal position to its actuated position, the finger or fingers that actuate the trigger draw the line away from a line roller so that the line is held by the finger/fingers and thereby prevented from paying out as a cast is initiated. The user then thrusts the rod in the desired direction and at the same time releases the line to perform the cast.
In another form, a trigger is mounted to the reel frame so that the rotor rotates relative to the trigger. The assignee herein offers a line of reels of this type which it identifies as its HYPERCAST.RTM. fishing reels. The HYPERCAST.RTM. fishing reels are designed so that the trigger can reposition the bail assembly regardless of the rotational position of the rotor. The structure of one form of the HYPERCAST.RTM. fishing reel is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,149.
The assignee herein also offers another feature on its reels which obviates the need to have the operator touch the line throughout the performance of a cast. The assignee identifies this feature as its SNAPSHOT.RTM. line holding mechanism. Reels with this feature utilize a pivotable arm having a pin at a free end remote from the arm pivot location. Operation of the trigger performs both functions of repositioning the bail assembly and repositioning the pin arm. As the trigger is actuated, the bail assembly moves from the retrieve position into the cast position. Upon full actuation, the pin arm is moved so that the pin free end situates adjacent to a wire on the bail assembly to hold the line and prevent payout thereof. The pin arm is spring biased so that, as the trigger is released, the pin arm repositions to move the pin away from the bail wire to allow line to pay out while the bail assembly remains in the cast position. This feature is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,921,188 and 5,154,369.
The trigger operated bail assemblies in the SNAPSHOT.RTM. line holding mechanisms have been offered successfully by the assignee herein for years. With certain of the reels having rotor mounted triggers, the triggers are mounted for pivoting movement around an axis that crosses a pivot axis for the bail assembly. The trigger cams against the pin arm, which in turns cams the bail assembly from the retrieve position towards the cast position. By reason of the proximity of the cooperating cam surfaces on the trigger and pin arm, the actuating portion of the trigger has been made relatively long to permit actuation of the bail assembly without the application of an uncomfortably large force upon the trigger. At the same time, a relatively large range of movement for the trigger is required to effect the requisite movement of the bail assembly.
With the trigger mounted radially outwardly from a bail arm on the bail assembly, the clearance space between the trigger and the rod, for the user's hand, may be reduced to an undesirable extent. Also, the further the trigger resides from the rotational axis of the rotor, the greater is the angular velocity of the trigger during operation, which produces a centrifugal force tending to pivot the trigger towards its actuated position. While a spring mechanism is incorporated into the reel to normally urge the trigger back to the normal position, over time, the spring force may vary, which may allow the trigger to pivot towards the actuated position. This could cause interference with the user's hand holding the rod and reel.